Zonta Update

I have been a member of Zonta for a couple of years now, and they recently asked me to be a "First Year Director" on the board of the local Three Rivers North Chapter. Since my term as president of the Sojourner House board is ending in June, I expect to have a less time-consuming role there (although I'll still participate). So I said 'yes' to the director spot for Zonta.

A week of so ago, the nominating committee called me back and asked if I would consider taking the position of President Elect. Since I have almost no awareness of the Zonta International aspect of this organization, there would be a learning curve here. However, they convinced me that my leadership experience from Sojourner House would serve me well; and they have a couple of people who can mentor me. So I have accepted the President Elect spot. Guess I am just a born leader . . . or a born woman's advocate . . . or both.

Zonta . . . Advancing the status of women, worldwide.

On that note, one of the Zonta members in our local club is Mary Jo Hess, who is fighting a courageous battle with cancer. Her faith and courage are inspiring, and I have put her CaringBridge site on my favorites for all my blogger friends. Please lift up Mary Jo in prayer on her journey.

HOME GROUP DEDICATION FOR MELANIE!

Here is our picture from last night's open house and dedication for Melanie at Northway! It was an awesome evening, and Melanie is over a third of the way toward raising her support goal. She wants to be finished by August so she can be full time with the students at Ohio State by September. Let us know if you have friends who might be willing to be part of her team!

Thanks to Bill for his wonderful dedication.

Weekend doings!

Matt and Mary came over from Columbus on Friday night. It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we went walking in the neighborhood and just relaxed in the morning. On Saturday night we headed downtown (duntun) to The Church Brew Works for dinner and then off to Heinz Hall for a concert. The program was all Rachmaninoff, who is one of my favorite composers. This picture was taken at Intermission in the garden courtyard outside the hall between the Vocalise and the Symphonic Dances (part 1) and the third piano concerto performed by Denis Matsuev (part 2). The pianist was truly an amazing performer; he did TWO encores that were also beautiful. This guy was rocking that 9-foot Steinway grand. I'm sure they tune HIS piano very often. It was great to spend time with Matt and Mary and to do something so fun on top of it!


I also wanted to post a great new picture I got of our newest family member, Nathaniel Ethan, on the occasion of being 6 weeks old! Stan and Abby (and big brother Gabe) sent two great pictures of Nate - - - with his eyes open! I just couldn't resist putting this little cutey on the blog.



Finally, Greg and I did some yard work this afternoon, and the honeysuckle plants in the corners have come under attack again. This time Greg cut them down to about 2 feet off the ground. He trimmed off all the "feelers" and put the main plants below the top of the fence. They look pretty pathetic, so I will see if they are going to behave themselves or whether we end up taking them out completely. I've also planted 10 new perennial mums that I got from Spring Hill nurseries. And the Ohio State Horticulture donations of spirea and ground cover are once again showing signs of life. You just can't beat that OSU plant stock.

Melanie was here!

My baby girl is all grown up. She amazes me how she has changed in just a few short months since graduation. The transition to young professional is completely underway.

I didn't take any pictures. We were enjoying ourselves so much that I didn't want to interrupt the flow to take photos. It was an awesome Easter at Northway, though. We haven't been 'home' for Easter in several years. I forgot what it is like to celebrate with your own church family. It was nice to get hugs from all our home group friends and to say "He is risen! He is risen indeed!"

Hope you had a great Easter!

Hello from the Windy City!



I got up at 3 a.m. this morning and left for the airport for a 6:00 flight to Chicago. With the time difference, we landed at 6:35; and I was downtown at the Sheraton Towers before 8. My training conference started at 8:30 a.m., and I had time to check into my hotel (thank goodness there was a room available before noon). I have been in training all day and attended a showcase reception before going out to dinner. The way I figure it, I have now been up for about 19 hours and have eaten two real meals and miscellaneous coffee and snacks. My body is totally whacked . . . I think I should go to bed soon.



I really like Chicago . . . I don't know why. I have come here countless times over my career on business. A couple of times I have come here for fun reasons, too. There is something cool about the place. For example, as I came up LaSalle this morning to the hotel in the airport shuttle, there was a police vehicle parked along side the street with the words "Scuba Unit" on the side of it. Pittsburgh has lots of waterways, but I have never seen a scuba unit in downtown Pittsburgh. What's up with that? When I'm here, I always expect Dick Tracy to come out of some building in his trench coat and hat or something. Chicago has its own personality with the El and the Miracle Mile and Navy Pier. The one thing I don't think I'd like to deal with is the traffic; I'm really spoiled in Pittsburgh.



Tomorrow is another long day, but I will be home tomorrow night. I wish I had a picture to share with you. How about this?

It has been a long week, my friends!

As I sit here on Friday evening, I must say that March did NOT go out like a lamb! I had some stuff going on at work this week that culminated a couple of months worth of business case analysis . . . and getting it in front of executive management for approval. I have tap danced this presentation at least 4 times this week . . . each time with a different stakeholder. I'm glad to say, I think it will be approved on Monday. And that Irish blarney served me well in giving my presentation.

In addition to launching my business case and strategy, I also met with my boss for a performance review, tried to convince another of my business customers that we need to hire some consultants to help us with a project, and spent a number of hours on Visio drawing logical diagrams of some of our processes as a reference model. I DESERVE this glass of wine, I'm telling you.

The week was complicated because I got a cold about Wednesday. Unfortunately, I wasn't sick enough to be down in bed, so I struggled through the last couple of days. (Better living through chemistry.) At night I was doing NyQuil and Vicks Vapo Rub. Greg said I smelled pretty bad, but it didn't bother me. :-) I needed to sleep, and I accomplished that goal. Greg even talked me into trying the Netty Pot this morning, which I have yet to master. Regardless, I think I passed the critical part this morning. I am starting to feel better. This is good, because Melanie is coming over on Sunday. YAY!!!!

Tomorrow I am going to finish the taxes (yes, Dad, I started them). Then I want to cut out my dress that I've had fabric for since about the first of February. The sewing is my reward for doing the taxes. It may sound crazy, but I find the reward system still works for me.